Kerala gets second public sector bottled water plant

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday inaugurated the much-awaited bottled water plant at Aruvikkara near here, the second such manufacturing unit to be set up in the public sector in the state.

The plant, envisaged to make the State government's packaged drinking water brand 'Hilly Aqua', was set up by the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIDC).

Launching the plant via video conferencing, the Chief Minister said the State government was committed to provide drinking water at an affordable rate and that it would increase the production and supply of quality bottled water from the plant as demand increases.

Hilly Aqua was first produced from a plant in Thodupuzha, he said.

While the market price for the bottled water was Rs 20, the 'Hilly Aqua' could be made available for public at Rs 13 which was widely accepted, the Chief Minister said adding that even private players were forced to follow suit.

Detailing the features of the new facility, he said as many as 2,720 bottles of 20 litres each can be filled per day at the Aruvikkara plant.

In the initial phase, 20 litres of bottled water would be distributed at a price of Rs 20 each.

The required bottles would be manufactured at the plant itself, he added.

The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the all-women network Kudumbashree has designated a six-member team called "Santhvanam" for distribution and marketing of the drinking water produced from the new plant.

The government was bringing out the "Hilly Aqua" after purifying the water using the state-of-the-art technology.

As the government's bottled water would get manufactured from Aruvikkara plant along with the one in Thodupuzha, quality drinking water would be available to the public at an affordable price, official sources added.